The 28-year-old is expected to move on from Chelsea ahead of the 2017/18 campaign and he made it pretty clear where he stands amid speculation Atletico Madrid are interested in re-signing him.

Antonio Conte’s brutal text message to Costa earlier this summer – telling the striker he had no plans for him at Stamford Bridge – was damaging, to say the least, but the Spaniard has now undoubtedly severed all ties.

Seemingly desperate to seal a return to Atleti in the coming months, Costa was pictured partying in Brazil in his former side’s shirt on his own Instagram page.

To add insult to injury, the volatile centre-forward also threw shade at manager Conte in a reply to Cesc Fabregas’ comment on his live video.

‘Give Conte a hug,’ Costa said.

Diego Costa 2016/17 stats

Appearances42Goals22Assists7

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Costa was heavily linked with a move to Tianjin Quanjian midway through last season but the Chinese Super League’s transfer window has now closed.

A move to Atletico Madrid now appears the most likely move but that has complications. The Spanish outfit are currently under a transfer embargo which stops them from signing any players before the January transfer window.

But with Costa’s latest actions it seems there is almost certainly no way back for the Spain international at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues are due to head on pre-season in the next couple of days ahead of their first pre-season friendly – a meeting with Arsenal in China on Saturday. It’s understood Costa will be excused from the tour.